Digital Community Facilitator: A New Role at Ryerson

A year ago at the Empire Club my school's President, Sheldon Levy, gave a speech where he said, "In Ontario we are moving away from manufacturing and into technology - and I would refine this by saying we are moving into digital media."  The President's overall message was that Ontario has a chance to be a leader in the new digital economy and Ryerson is well placed to take advantage of this opportunity by undergoing an evolution of its role as City-Builder.  To be a leader he sees Ontario designing solutions, not implementing solutions created elsewhere.

The President goes on to highlight that "[our] students are the first generation [to grow] up completely digital. So they bring a measure of real comfort and confidence to problems that rely on digital tools for a solution." Traditionally at Ryerson, and elsewhere, activities organized by student affairs units focus on bringing students together face-to-face.  The internet has been used in large part to support face-to-face events. This approach will continue to have great value, but digital media is providing new opportunities to help us achieve our goals.
 

To take advantage of these new opportunities we are introducing a new position called Digital Community Facilitator. The idea behind this new role is to leverage Web 2.0 tools, such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, to create community as an end in and of itself. The hope is that we can pair the existing and emerging digital communities with the vibrant face-to-face communities that already exist at Ryerson. As a new role, with few models to compare, the position is bound to evolve over time, but I thought there would be value in sharing the responsibilities we currently envision for this position. Comments and questions are more than welcome.

• Conduct periodic assessments, with input from community members, of the health of our digital media communities, measuring engagement, size of community, participation levels, fan interest and performance against university objectives. 
• Grow digital community followers, friends and subscribers within current digital networks related to Ryerson and by identifying emerging digital networks and platforms 
• Launch and manage digital communities, including applications, for networks such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, and provide support,encouragement & advice to students and colleagues who wish to leverage these tools to enhance community development by (a) Creating frameworks for determining when new communities should be launched and supported and (b) Making recommendations on timing, roll-out and objectives of new communities
• Keep up to date with the general digital media landscape and act as a digital media evangelist in the Ryerson community for digital media and the digital media communities.
• Identify and support the most relevant influencers in a wide range of digital communities
• Participate in and stimulate online conversations on behalf of Ryerson to enhance student learning and the student's experience
• Leading ongoing education and awareness initiatives to keep community members abreast of marketplace developments and changes in the digital media space.  Provide advice and support to students and colleagues in digital media best practice and participation strategies.
• Work effectively with cross-functional teams who are seeking ways to integrate digital media within their programs; provide guidance, expert advice and strategies that fit within Ryerson's overall digit media strategy and academic plan

The Difference 150 Years Makes

This past weekend I finished reading Pierre Berton's The National Dream which describes the story about building a railway from Montreal to British Columbia in the 1870's. It is hard to fathom a Canada that does not reach from the Atlantic to the Pacific but if the railway was not built that could have been a reality.

My curiosity about early Canada was peaked so I picked up John A: The Man Who Made Us immediately after putting down The National Dream. I am intrigued to see how society has evolved and using that knowledge to better anticipate the future.  Reading about Canada's first Prime Minister provides great insight into the foundation of Canadian society.  For instance, Sir John A. Macdonald started practicing law just before he was 16 years old despite never having studied at university. Practicing law in 19th century Canada did not require a degree.  Obviously, today it is extremely rare for someone to begin working at 16.

In fact, in 21st century Canada, the Ontario government predicts that 70% of jobs will require some form of post-secondary education. Interestingly, the foundation for Canada's education system was set in the 19th century by Egerton Ryerson, the person that my school is named after. (Some controversy now surrounds his approach as he started the Canadian residential school system.)

Another fact about Macdonald's time that seems unreal by today's standards is that a short speech in parliament was two hours long. Macdonald and others were known to give speeches lasting five or six hours. Obviously the 1800's was a time where electronic communications did not exist and Berton explains that politics provided for good theatre so politicians gave lengthy speeches and people listened. Newspapers would often print speeches given in parliament.  Gives whole new meaning to participating in Toastmasters! 

A last noteworthy point for me was the immense effort people had to put into building the actual railroad. It took more than a decade to build and all sorts of physical, personal and political challenges were encountered. An eyeopening and somewhat funny part of the story, especially by today's standards, was that people had to travel a few hundred miles just to pick up the mail - many times through the mountains. Today all we have to do is reach down to our hip and grab our Blackberry or iPhone!

Moving to Student Affairs 2.0

A couple of good questions were posed by Rachel in the comments of my recent Student Affairs 2.0 blog post. I thought there would be value in sharing my response as another post as it allows me to elaborate on my thinking and explain some of the actions being taken at my school.

At Ryerson, we are in the process of creating a full-time position that will be dedicated to fostering the development of a digital student community. The student life promotions team, that we created a couple of years ago, was one of our first coordinated attempts to facilitate community development online and the thinking is that this team will become part of the responsibilities of this new position.

As for the second question, I agree that spending time together face-to-face is very important. I do not anticipate a major shift in where a student affairs professional spends his/her time over the next few years, especially at well established schools. However, the rapid emergence of new schools, like those online, dictate that different approaches must be adopted by student affairs or we risk falling behind or not being included altogether as decisions are made on where future resources are directed. It is rare in my experience to see a student affairs job posted for a school that does the bulk of its work online or interact with a professional from one of these schools at a conference. This is concerning because online education is big business now as the recent PBS broadcast, College, Inc., demonstrates.

Perhaps an even more important reason for student affairs to deliberately take steps to get involved in online communities is that our students are already there is high numbers that will continue to grow. I see no value in fighting this reality. In fact, I see tremendous upside for students affairs to accept it because it will increase our understanding of how students are interacting and learning.

My response to Rachel's questions is obviously driven by my experience and views. Please feel free to share your views so more perspectives can be added to the mix.

Student Affairs 2.0

The classroom used to be seen as the only stage for a teacher to share their knowledge and promote student learning. We have witnessed a tremendous evolution in this view over the past decade with the growth of online learning. This change has allowed new higher education models to be adopted some of which are coming from business (along with new challenges as I commented on previously)


Faculty took advantage of the internet to start moving classroom learning online more than a decade ago. Now decision makers, in government or high ed administration, seem to be increasingly attracted to online learning as its effectiveness as a teaching strategy increases, not to mention the cost savings that can be achieved through the lower demand for building space.

Student affairs now has an opportunity to be integrated into this new environment by moving community development online. Web 2.0 provides the tools for this change to happen, but a new paradigm must be adopted. One where the internet is not used solely to market face-to-face activities to students, but to develop community online as end in and of itself.

Online communities are now a regular part of our lives and student affairs must do more than simply join these communities. Student affairs must actively participate online, train students how to interact effectively in these communities and find innovative ways in this new medium to enhance the student experience. To remain relevant in a new post-secondary world, where students will interact face-to-face less often in a classroom, student affairs must translate its community development expertise to the online environment.


My school has been developing some strategies aimed at making the shift I am describing above - a shift to Student Affairs 2.0. This change will impact many aspects of students affairs and I see great value in generating discussion with student affairs professionals from across North America and around the world. Because of my interest in trying to understand this future I intend to share more of my thoughts on my blog in the coming weeks and I would welcome any questions or comments.

Student Life Without Senior Students?

The University of New Brunswick is undergoing a review as part of a strategic planning exercise and Tony Bates, an e-learning and distance education consultant, was invited to campus as part of the process.  He published some of his thoughts, including recommendations, on his blog (found via Stephen's Web). 

I am intrigued, but not necessarily surprised, by one of his recommendations as it could influence student life on the UNB campus: "A gradual move from almost entirely face-to-face courses in first year programs to hybrid or fully distance programs in the fourth year undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as develop more online non-credit certificate or diploma programs focused on the lifelong learning market."

Take a moment to imagine a campus with less senior students. For the students themselves school becomes more flexible. Money could be saved if a student has to travel less and live at home. For a school less space is needed which could also result in a cost savings and at the very least space could be reallocated for other uses. For student life I do not foresee cost savings, but having a smaller number of senior students means fewer job applications, fewer opportunities to mentor younger students and fewer students to participate in activities. In short, the student experience will change - which is not necessarily bad, but it is important to examine the implications.

I also see an opportunity to use a new model opening up if some student life activities can be moved online. For instance, many thriving communities exist online, just as on campus, and directing resources to using Web 2.0 tools to create student life has potential. With education evolving, like it is at UNB, it is important for student affairs' professionals to consider recommendations being made. Furthermore it is even more important to participate in the dialogue, whenever possible, so students, faculty and decision maker's have an opportunity understand how changes will impact all aspects of a student's experience. 

More Criticism of Student Affairs Needed

After reading George Siemens The Value of Critique blog I was reminded of quote I read on Wikipedia from Alan Bloom criticizing student affairs.  The entry goes as follows:

"The late liberal education critic Alan Bloom wrote that the "...idea of a separate 'Student Affairs' profession in academia is pure rubbish. It is fiction. The range of work involved requires a high school diploma on the low end and a PhD in psychology on the high end. The constituent disciplines (with their quality controls) already exist and can be readily applied to students. Breeching a new 'discipline' for this purpose is nothing more than professional egotism. I see it as a spasm of self-justification for a profession that largely lacks any scholarly work, past or present. This is the worst episode of academic cheapening I have witnessed. In a continuum ranging from Nuclear Physics to Romance Languages, 'student personnel' is almost certainly the most pathetic graduate field yet conceived. It is an embarrassment..."

I cannot recall reading a more scathing review of student affairs and it has caused me to want to understand more about his view. Following Siemens advice I would be interested in hearing other criticism about student affairs.  Please add a comment if you have a good quote or story to share about someone criticizing student affairs. 

Receiving feedback is an important part of learning. For many of our students receiving criticism can be a turning point in understanding a particular point or concept. In my experience it has been rare to witness an open discussion about criticism of our field which could be a critique in and of itself.

Anaylsis Paralysis No More

"Collecting data is one thing, making it useful quite another. And that’s the key challenge for every business in this digital era." - Data Analysts: The New Masters of the Universe by Ceci Rodgers in BNET

For those of you 35 and older you likely remember a time when you could go months without being asked to complete a survey. Today it seems like you could answer surveys all day long:  buy a product and share your postal code; start a web browser and answer a survey; sit down for dinner and get interrupted by a phone call to complete a survey. Why is this happening?

The increasing access to computers, especially personal computers, through the later half of the 20th century has given people and organizations greater and greater ability to collect information. The opening quote above highlights the next step in the evolution of data: analysis.

Opportunities exist for student affairs when it comes to data analysis, like using our expertise in relationship development to help our students learn analytical skills as I suggest in a recent blog post.  In order to analyze though, data must exist.  I gained a new appreciation for the importance of properly collecting and managing data after reading Harper's Team last summer. One point I took away from the book, and shared in blog post, was the value Stephen Harper's team placed on data collection. 

At present few student affairs divisions have staff, such as researchers, dedicated to collecting, managing and analyzing data. It would seem that the time has come for more analysts or researchers to be employed by student affairs in order to take advantage of the wealth of data that can now be accessed.